ILR credit interns exchange views with labor leaders

Students in the School of Industrial and Labor Relations credit intern program in Washington, D.C., pose with AFL-CIO Secretary Treasurer Richard Trumka, sixth from left, standing, and Francine Moccio, fourth from right, standing, their instructor for the class The Changing American Workplace, in the George Meany Conference Room of the AFL-CIO national headquarters, May 1.

By Ashley Roberts '03

May 1, known as May Day around the world, was truly a special day this year for School of Industrial and Labor Relations (ILR) credit interns in Washington, D.C.

Gathered in the spacious George Meany Conference Room of the national AFL-CIO headquarters for their final day of class, the students presented their innovative ideas and semester-long research on public-policy initiatives and workplace reforms for the 21st century workplace. The projects were required as part of the class, The Changing American Workplace: Contemporary Issues and Public Policy, taught by Francine Moccio, director of ILR's Institute for Women and Work.

Before an audience of several distinguished ILR alumni with the AFL-CIO, students discussed their own legislative proposals, speaking passionately about new laws they feel would be necessary to create societal stability and workplace fairness. Topics ranged from creating a national ID that protects civil rights and curbs terrorism, to mandating more effective levels of school security, to prohibiting employer mandatory arbitration agreements and amending the Fair Labor Standards Act by creating more flexible work policies and equal opportunity for all employees to balance work and life responsibilities.

To the students' surprise, AFL-CIO Secretary Treasurer Richard Trumka joined the class to talk about the efforts of the union's national offices in the public policy arena. Scheduled for a CNN and Bloomberg television interview later that evening, he gave students a preview of his prepared comments. Trumka is a former president of the United Mine Workers union and currently is a leading figure in the 13-million-member federation. When asked by the students about grassroots organizing at the AFL-CIO, he responded: "We have grown from 400,000 to 475,000 in net growth this year, but we have a long way to go."

Trumka also told the students that his son will be attending Cornell's ILR School in the fall.

After speaking with Trumka, students attended a screening of an anti-sweatshop film about women garment workers on the U.S.-owned island of Saipan, produced by Oxygen Media Inc. and narrated by Academy Award-winning actor Susan Sarandon.

The students said they'd had an interesting final class, indeed, and a memorable May Day 2002.